(NaturalNews) A group known as Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is largely responsible for the decimation of half of Sumatran and other Indonesian rain forests since 1985. These rain forests were the natural habitats for tigers.

Activists with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are clamoring for grocery and other store chains carrying paper products to boycott APP. The WWF activists focus on the preservation of wild animals, including tigers, elephants, and other endangered species.

A century ago, over 100,000 tigers existed in the world. Today there are around 3200. The WWF group managed to track down 20 outlets across the USA who had used paper products from APP during 2011.

They have succeeded with having eight large retail chains agree to stop carrying APP paper and tissue products, such as Paseo toilet paper and Livi paper products. Paseo toilet paper sales have been growing faster than any other toilet paper in the USA.

Among those who responded and agreed to stop carrying APP paper products are Kroger and K-Mart. The other names mentioned in the Sustainable News article are not widely known corporate owners of other retail and grocery chains.

But 12 of those 20 retail chains did not even respond to WWF. Among those are the well known stores of Marsh, Albertson's, Giant Eagle, and Lowes Food Stores. The fact that these retail chain stores continue to buy from APP and its distributors further solidifies the blatant carelessness towards the well-being of endangered species merely for convenience and profit.

But if you care, you can boycott the paper products from APP mentioned in this article. A few others besides WWF care also. During the Year of the Tiger in 2010, Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted a summit for the preservation of tigers called the International Tiger Conservation Forum. Thirteen countries with tigers remaining in their wild showed up and agreed to a five year plan for restoring tigers to former populations. Although not everyone is concerned about tigers, everyone should be concerned about what's going on with their natural rain forest habitats, because ultimately it effects humanity as a whole.

Converting carbon gases to oxygen more important than providing cheap toilet paper

Rain forest deforestation goes beyond even the importance of local animal habitats and their endangered species. Rain forests are among the planet's most dense resources for converting carbon dioxide to oxygen.

North America has its share of deforestation as well. Depending on the method used, it takes an estimated 12 to 24 trees 40 feet high to produce one ton of paper used for newsprint.

American paper mills claim they follow strict forestation guidelines to replace trees, planting more than one tree for every one cut down. But those conservation rules probably don't apply to Asian rain forests.

Even with that practice, there is a down time with some trees. Newly planted trees don't sprout up immediately. Downed trees account for an estimated 35% of our paper products. This percentage exists even in the midst of continually using recycled paper.

All the carbon tax nonsense in the world will not eliminate carbon gases sufficiently and cover our oxygen needs if the rain forests disappear while we wait for our North American trees to grow and replace those cut down.

More efficient options exist for even better paper, such as hemp. Hemp plants grow to harvest in six months and can be replanted immediately for another harvest in six months. Hemp is easily farmed without exploiting or destroying natural habitats of vanishing tigers and other wild animals (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/hemp-toilet-paper/).

Tigers and other endangered species could relax and restore their populations in time, and we could all breathe better air if options other than trees were used for paper. Saving tigers saves us all.

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